Current Affairs

06/08/2017

Kourani became a naturalized citizen in April 2009, after claiming on his application for naturalization that he was not affiliated with any terrorist organization, a crime which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years.

Kourani engaged in extensive surveillance, according to the complaint against him. The complaint alleges that the surveillance included identifying people associated with the Israel Defense Forces, gathering information about security at U.S. airports, and surveilling U.S. law enforcement and military sites in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

El Debek is also a naturalized American citizen, and the complaint against him alleges that he was recruited to Hezbollah in late 2007 or early 2008. The complaint claims that he began receiving a salary from Hezbollah shortly afterward, and payments continued through 2015.

El Debek is believed to have conducted missions for Hezbollah in Panama and Thailand. In 2011, he traveled to Panama, where he is thought to have assessed security at the Panama Canal and Israeli Embassy and located places to buy explosive precursors.

That's SOME KIND of assimilation, there. They took those oaths of citizenship damned seriously, didn't they? At least DOJ is going after these people instead of pandering to them. About time, methinks. URR here.

06/04/2017

In London, just after 10pm local time last night, at least three muhammedan terrorists ran down a number of people with a van, before getting out and attacking people with knives. The incident lasted less than ten minutes, occurring near Borough Market and London Bridge. You can read the details here.

For his part, muhammedan London mayor Sadiq Khan stated that "we will never let these cowards win", and "this is our city", empty platitudes without mention of any action to root out the terrorists who are already there and to prevent new ones from coming in. Without such willingness to act, and an effective plan, Khan's entreaties may as well be lodging complaints about import duties on cabbage. So, Londoners can expect more of the same.

Londoners in the last century stood and suffered at the hands of Britain's enemies. But those enemies were not amongst them, and the British government didn't refuse to send up the RAF for fear of offending Germans. Times change, I spose.

But hey, maybe they can sing "Don't look back in anger." That will be sure to stop the killings and maimings. Question is, which version should they sing? The one for Manchester? Westminster? Brussels? Paris (thrice)? Munich? Berlin? Madrid? The three previous London attacks? Woolwich? Nice? Stockholm? Volgograd? Moscow (six times)? San Bernadino? Orlando? Chattanooga? New York (twice)? Fort Hood? Fort Lauderdale? DC?

The same people who tell you that Climate Change (formerly Global Warming, formerly Global Cooling) is caused by the US and Donald Trump, will state emphatically that this attack has nothing to do with Islam...

05/30/2017

While the Mainstream Media was reporting breathlessly that the man suspected of stabbing two men to death in Portland, Oregon, Jeremy Christian, was a "right-wing extremist", The Daily Caller informs us that such a characterization is, not surprisingly, entirely false. (The Facebook screen captures are from the Caller article, via BUZZFEED.)

And no, he didn't vote for Trump.

He DID express his hatred for Hillary Clinton, which is apparently enough to be considered a "right-wing extremist" by the news media who sat dutifully to listen to Hillary's "expectations" for their coverage of her campaign....

Christian is, apparently, a white supremacist. Which of course makes him a likely Democrat. Just ask Al Gore about his dad. Or Hillary about her friend and mentor, Robert Byrd.

But, to the mainstream media and the spittle-flecked ranting Left, this incident is the feared "muslim backlash" that is as bad as 9/11, Chattanooga, Fort Hood, San Bernadino, Orlando, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Umpqua, and Little Rock, all rolled into one.

Oh, and the mayor of Portland? He would like to shut down the Constitutional free speech of a group that had nothing to do with the incident. An Enabling Act for a new century, perhaps? How very socialist, er, NATIONAL socialist, of him.

We don't know the perpetrator(s) of this latest massacre, but can guess the persuasion and motivation of the terrorist(s).

Thoughts and prayers with the victims and their loved ones, again. Yet again. And if it is determined the attackers are/were muhammedan, then damnation on the souls of those who would put someone else's loved ones in jeopardy in order to not be considered "Islamophobic". Telling us all, again, the same desperate lie about vetting and assimilation. URR here.

05/18/2017

Protesters covering their faces held signs that read "Ban Drudge," with a no symbol over the Drudge Report, the highly trafficked news website run by Matt Drudge. Other protesters held signs to ban other news websites, including Breitbart and InfoWars.

He is most recognizable as villain Curly Bill Brocius in the magnificent western Tombstone, as the nemesis of the Earp brothers. In that role, IMDB calls him "oddly likeable", which is true, and quite a tribute to his acting ability. Boothe also played several western tough-guy roles, including barkeep Cy Tolliver in the acclaimed Deadwood series on HBO.

For my money, much as I loved him in Tombstone, Powers Boothe's best role was one of his first. He played Guyana "People's Temple" cult leader Jim Jones in the 1980 television docu-drama Guyana Tragedy, the Story of Jim Jones, the story of the mass suicide of more than 900 people (and murder of Congressman Leo Ryan) in the remote commune of Jonestown in 1978.

Boothe's powerful presence and deep voice were features of his ability to play disturbing bad guys. However, unlike a lot of Hollywood, and unlike most of his characters, Boothe was reportedly one of the good guys. He grew up working in the fields in Texas, and was described as a gentleman by those he worked with. He will be missed. (URR here.)

05/08/2017

Zip. Nada. The null set. Naught. Blank. Nil. You get the idea. What does this goose-egg represent?

In twenty-three minutes and nineteen seconds of playing time, that zero is Boston Celtics Center Kelly Olynyk's rebound total from last night's drubbing at the hands of the Washington Wizards. As his team was getting positively crushed on the backboards. Since they seem to have stats for every last eventuality, I would like to see the last time a 7-foot tall, 250 pound NBA center played half a game without a single effing rebound. I have been watching the NBA for 40 years and can't remember one. In four games against the Wizards, ol' Kelly has played 74 minutes, and has managed a grand total of seven (count 'em) rebounds. An average of less than two a game. And equivalent to the number of rebounds six foot, 175 pound guard Terry Rozier grabbed in last night's game alone.

Not only is Olynyk a sister-pants, but he is a dirty player, and I hope some opponent drops him like poop from a tall cow. But worry not, Green fans. Olynyk makes up for his pathetic effort on the boards by playing horrendous defense and heaving up questionable shots from long range on offense. If there has been a worse big man in the history of the league, I can't remember him. Olynyk makes Hank Finkel look like Wilt Chamberlain. He is the reason I can't watch the team. I am afraid I will puke. Not to mention, he looks like a douche bag with that stupid man-bun.

04/20/2017

Sixty-one years old, and runs a sub-5 hour Boston Marathon. Bad-ASS. Our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is a warrior.

I first met Joe Dunford almost 30 years ago, when he was a newly-minted Major, the Marine Officer Instructor at Holy Cross. Even to a First Lieutenant, there was something special about him, his leadership, his command presence. General Dunford went on to do pretty well. I next saw him as a Colonel in Iraq, serving as Chief of Staff of the 1st Marine Division, under MajGen James Mattis. The ADC? BGen John Kelly. (The shirt he is wearing in the photo, "Team Kelly", is in honor of Marine 1st Lieutenant Robert Kelly, the son of General John Kelly. 1stLt Kelly was killed in Iraq Afghanistan in 2010) General Dunford was promoted quickly through the General Officer ranks of the Marine Corps, in fact never wearing two stars, as he was selected for Lieutenant General before he'd pinned on his Major General promotion. Of course, General Dunford went on to serve briefly as the 36th Commandant of the Marine Corps before being selected as the 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have served with and under some of the legends of the Corps. Marines such as James Mattis, Joe Dunford, John Kelly, SgtMaj Carlton Kent, Jim Conway, Larry Livingston. And it is a damned good feeling to have the adults in charge, men like Joe Dunford and Jim Mattis steering the Pentagon.